Pitchfork

Photo by Jen Reel

Y'all know how it goes by now: you win some, you lose some. So following a triumphant performance at this past weekend's Pitchfork Music Festival, it's only natural-- though no less a shame-- that the boys of Fleet Foxes should come against the bane of any touring band: a van breakdown. As a result, they've had to cancel tonight's performance at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City.

So what's the deal, dudes? Bandleader Robin Pecknold spells it all out for us in a MySpace bulletin:

Subject: SLC Punked :( :( :(

Hey Salt Lake friends,

We are stranded in Denver until tomorrow night getting our broken down van repaired and there is no possible way we can make it to the show tomorrow. We are incredibly bummed. Our van broke down an hour outside of Denver and we sat in the middle of a dust storm for four hours before my amazing aunt and her friend came and saved the day, taking us and our gear the whole way to Denver while leaving the van behind in nowheresville to get fixed.
Thank you dear Aunt Polly for making it so we only had to cancel one show instead of two!!!!

We're really sorry and our stupid van is gonna get the beating of a lifetime when it gets back. On the plus side we will be back in Salt Lake City in like only three weeks or so with Wilco so I hope if you want to see us you get a chance to....

SO SORRY!!

FUCK VANS!!!!!!!

GARRR
Robin

Take that, Econoline! And shucks, give it up for Aunt Polly!

Fleet Foxes still have their Wilco dates, a few scattered U.S. and festival gigs, and a run of UK shows in mid-fall with recent lineup addition J. Tillman in the support slot. And, hot dang, they're playing "Late Show With David Letterman" on August 4. Our furry little friends have come a long way, eh?

Photos by Beana Bern; Above: Björk

Gräfenhainichen, Germany's famed "city of steel" Ferropolis went a bit molten this past weekend as the Melt! Festival took over the museum complex for three straight days of hot rockin'. This year's Melt! boasted a trio of unstoppable songstresses-- Björk, Robyn, and Róisín Murphy-- as well as Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Battles, Los Campesinos!, the Notwist, Fujiya & Miyagi, Neon Neon, Ellen Allien, and more, all rounded up for your viewing pleasure below.

Björk






Franz Ferdinand




Robyn






Hot Chip




Battles






Roisin Murphy




Los Campesinos!






Fujiya & Miyagi


Neon Neon


The Notwist




Ellen Allien

Last week, we caught a mention of Portland punkers the Thermals on MTV.com. In addition to dropping the name of the band's forthcoming fourth LP (Now We Can See), the article suggested that said album might not be released by the band's longtime label, Sub Pop. Curious, we shot an e-mail to the band. Thermals mouthpiece Hutch Harris shot us back a funny, generous e-mail about the current state of the band and taught us some things about Hello Kitty we were unaware of until now.

Pitchfork: MTV.com's report mentioned that your new album's release will be on "a still TBD label." Can you fill us in on the situation?

Hutch Harris: Nothing is for sure right now for us. Sub Pop offered us a contract for two more records which we ended up turning down, this was a little while ago. We had no problems with Sub Pop and we absolutely loved working with them, Kathy [Foster] and I just felt that we needed to go it alone again, for ourselves, for our "art", if even for just a short while. We've considered releasing the record ourselves, or licensing it ourselves to different territories. We are currently talking to many great labels, one of them being Sub Pop. It's still my favorite label.

If you get Bradford Cox talking about music long enough, the conversation almost inevitably will turn to Stereolab. The Deerhunter frontman and maker of all that Atlas Sound is a longtime fan, and a passionate one at that. Which makes him a fine fine choice to warm up a handful of dates on Stereolab's forthcoming North American tour. Atlas Sound will handle the opening slot on the first leg of the jaunt, which kicks off September 20 in Costa Mesa, California.

Stereolab, of course, are gearing up for the release of their new one, Chemical Chords, due August 18 worldwide and August 19 in the U.S. via Duophonic UHF Disks/4AD. Atlas Sound's debut LP will make its way to vinyl via Kranky July 28. And Deerhunter's Microcastle is due October 28 via Kranky in North America and 4AD elsewhere. Tour dates for all parties are available down below.

Oh sure, you could spend your Labor Day weekend shoveling the summer's last gulp of potato salad down your gullet and pretending that golf and Frisbee have something to do with each other.  You could relish in your temporary respite from the workforce and have a "staycation," which I believe is new slang for "watching TV." Or you could enter the magical realm of Rifflandia, full of mirth and merriment and three whole days' worth of music. Your call, but seriously, these are your only options.

Should you go with door #3 (good choice!), you'll want to make your way to downtown Victoria, British Columbia during the long weekend of August 29-31. There, for the price of a wristband, you'll be granted access to at least eight venues, each playing host to some fine, fine music. Populating the weird world of Rifflandia this time out are the likes of Man Man, the Walkmen, Black Mountain, Final Fantasy, Blitzen Trapper, DJ Z-Trip, Handsome Furs, Johnny & the Moon, You Say Party! We Say Die!, the Beatnuts, Howlin' Rain, Tim Finn (of Crowded House/Split Enz), Brother Ali, and others.

Sure, celebrating a day of rest at something called Rifflandia is a little silly, but it's not half as silly as the Martin Lawrence marathon at the centerpiece of your staycation.

Photos by Eirik Lande

Norway's Slottsfjellfestivalen twisted up non-natives' tongues in the town of Tønsberg this past weekend-- good thing the language of hip-shaking grooves is universal, eh?

On Friday, July 18, festivalgoers were treated to Malian grooves courtesy of husband-and-wife duo Amadou & Mariam, motorik grooves from London mainstays Stereolab, and full-on dance-your-ass-off grooves thanks to Norway's own Annie and a slick backing band that included Datarock's Ketil Mosnes.

Annie hits the UK with Don't Stop on October 6, while Stereolab serve up Chemical Chords to the masses next month.

Laetitia Sadier and company also have a North American tour set to kick off this fall, while Annie rocks just one more gig for now: a spot at Turku, Finland's UMF Festival on July 26.

In other Annie news, Annie like totally has a crush on Beck, omg!

Annie






Stereolab










Amadou & Mariam


Stereolab:

09-20 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
09-21 Pomona, CA - Glass House
09-24 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
09-26 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
09-27 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
09-29 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
09-30 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-01 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10-02 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-03 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-04 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-06 Boston, MA - Paradise *
10-07 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda *
10-08 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre *
10-09 Pontiac, MI - The Crofoot *
10-10 Chicago, IL - The Vic *
10-12 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
10-14 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre *
10-17 Seattle, WA - Showbox *
10-18 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom *
10-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
10-21 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
10-22 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
10-23 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre *
10-24 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern *

* with Monade

Pinback, the SoCal set you can set your watch to, have set up a whole bunch of tour dates. Throughout September and October, they'll proceed to bowl over North American audiences with that punchy precision for which they're known. In other Rob Crow news... eh, who can keep track.

Bonus: This is amazing (NSFW):

Photos by Kathryn Yu; Above: Stephen Malkmus

Ahh, another summer, another free Siren Music Festival at New York City's Coney Island. This year's event packed in the good times, featuring sets from the likes of Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, Islands, Annuals, Jaguar Love, DJ Ted Leo, 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival repeat offenders Times New Viking and the Dodos, and Whartscape double-duty-doers Beach House and Parts & Labor, among others. Yay for live music alfresco!

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

Broken Social Scene

DJ Ted Leo


Beach House






Times New Viking






The Dodos




Islands

Shortly after the announcement of more remastered and expanded reissues from his old band, Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg provided us a study in contrasts: a new album released on the fly for less than the cost of a donut.

The album is called 49:00, and over the weekend, Westerberg released it digitally through Amazon for 49 cents. Its concept is a 49-minute album released on June 49 (aka July 19), and it's being sold as one single MP3 file via Amazon.

As Westerberg's website reminds us, only one obstacle obstructs the path to 49:00's intended price tag. Customers must use the "Buy MP3 album with 1-Click" button instead of downloading it as a song, otherwise the price enters two-donut territory at 89 cents. That's right-- because of a technologistical hang-up, 49:00 costs less as an album than as a song.

49:00 is available for purchase here, and Westerberg is offering the album's cover art and liner notes in PDF form here.

Photos by Sung Kim; Above: Maxïmo Park

All kerfuffles aside, Spain's bi-city Summercase festival brought rock spectacles aplenty to Madrid and Barcelona this past Friday and Saturday. The Barcelona installment hit the city's oft-rocked Parc del Fòrum, kicking off July 18 with sets from Interpol, Grinderman, the Verve, Maxïmo Park, Edwyn Collins, Primal Scream, Blondie, and more, and wrapping up the next day with Mogwai performing Young Team, the Breeders, CSS, Los Campesinos!, Kaiser Chiefs (who brought Bloc Party's Kele Okereke out as a guest at one point), Neon Neon, and Jolly Green Johnny Rotten and his half-cocked Sex Pistols.

Hey! Look! Photos!

Interpol






The Breeders






Grinderman






The Verve






Sex Pistols